Kentucky grabs big commitment from local QB

Posted on: April 1, 2011 6:07 pm

Edited on: April 1, 2011 6:12 pm

Posted by Bryan Fischer

It's not often you hear of Kentucky being in the mix for elite football recruits but Joker Phillips has managed to get the Wildcats into the mix for several during his tenure as head coach and it paid off Friday afternoon when highly regarded Fort Thomas (Kent.) quarterback Patrick Towles committed.

"I decided I wanted to be a Wildcat," Towles told CatsIllustrated.com. "They just talking about how I would fit in to their offense. They liked that I was from Kentucky, and that I come from a winning program. They have Operation: Win, and they want winners."

The 6-foot-5, 225 pound signal caller has led his high school team to back-to-back state titles in Kentucky and received an offer from the school earlier this month.

"To be able to play for the school you always wanted to go to feels awesome," he told the website. "I was ready. I've always wanted to go to Kentucky. After I got the scholarship offer, I thought about it, and was like, 'Well, this is where I want to spend the next four years.'"

Towles also held offers from Cincinnati, Louisville, Illinois and Vanderbilt. One thing that appealed to him and led to his commitment, besides being the local school, was the Wildcats' depth chart at quarterback.

"Morgan (Newton) is going to be a senior my freshman (year)," Towles said. "They'll have (Maxwell) Smith and (Theltus) Cobbins. I'm not going to go into a program thinking I'm guaranteed a spot. In high school, I fought up from fifth string. It's always good to have competition."